March 2013 – Page 8

‘We can’t interfere’— defense chief

News

Mar 032013

By Frances MangosingINQUIRER.net 1:28 pm | Monday, March 4th, 2013 Defense Secretary Voltaire Gazmin. FILE PHOTO MANILA, Philippines – The Philippine government remains in talks with Malaysia despite skirmishes in Sabah over the weekend, but claimed they are not allowed to interfere. “Right now nakikipag-ugnayan tayo but because of the operation, hindi tayo pwede makialam. Call ng Malaysian govenment yun,” Defense Secretary Voltaire Gazmin said in a radio interview on Monday. Sultan Jamalul Kiram III’s followers and Malaysian security forces clashed in Sabah on Friday and Saturday, with fatalities on both sides. This prompted the Philippines to increase its security in Mindanao, with 10 Navy ships now deployed between Tawi-Tawi and Sabah, to prevent followers of Kiram to send reinforcements in Sabah. “Ang ginagawa natin ay pine-prevent natin ang movement noong galing dito papuntang Malaysia baka … may nagpapadala ng reinforcements para lalong palakihin ang gulo,” Gazmin said. Malaysia also reportedly heightened its security in Sabah. The defense chief though said they have not received reports that the sultan’s followers from Mindanao were able to go to Sabah by speedboat early Saturday. Gazmin also said that President Benigno Aquino III has ordered to assist evacuees, and at the same time identify those who were involved in the standoff. “Ang (order sa atin) ay tulungan ang evacuees at the same time i-identify ang mga na-involved sa standoff…kung ano ang participation nila tignan natin. But ang majority ng attention natin ay mga civilians na involved dito na pinaalis na sa area,” he Read More …

Comelec to subpoena Kabataan, PISTON over illegal posters

News

Mar 032013

Comelec to subpoena Kabataan, PISTON over illegal posters

(Updated 2:06 p.m.) The Commission on Elections (Comelec) on Monday said it will be issuing subpoenas to two party-list groups that allegedly have failed to remove their illegally placed campaign posters. “Papadalhan natin sila ng subpoena, may complaint na ifa-file,” lawyer Esmeralda Amora-Ladra, head of the Comelec law department, told reporters. “We’re preparing now for subpoena to be sent.” Last week, Ladra said they are preparing election offense charges against the two groups — Kabataan and Pinagkaisang Samahan ng mga Tsuper at Operator Nationwide (PISTON) — for allegeldy failing to remove their illegal campaign posters three days after they received notice from the poll body. She said the illegal campaign posters were still on the wall of Philippine General Hospital, a public infrastructure, along Taft Avenue in Manila when the law department made the rounds. The two party-list groups, however, had said they have removed the posters. But on Monday, Ladra said their monitoring showed the groups did not remove the posters within the three-day period prescribed by the poll body. “Hindi na namin chineck ulit. What for pag paulit-ulit tayo ‘di na tayo matatapos sa pagche-check dapat nga they should be also held liable dun sa ibang lugar,” she said. She added that under the law, failure to remove the posters after three days attaches the “presumption that they were really the ones who placed those posters in prohibited places.” Ladra said the two groups, through the subpoena, will be required to make an appearance and submit their reply Read More …

BI orders deportation of American pedophile

News

Mar 032013

By Tetch Torres-TupasINQUIRER.net 1:19 pm | Monday, March 4th, 2013 MANILA, Philippines – The Bureau of Immigration has ordered the deportation of a convicted American pedophile wanted in the US for failure to report his location and activities to federal authorities. Immigration Commissioner Ricardo David said Earl Lynn Bagley, 60 who was arrested last February 4 at the Robinson’s Mall in Ermita, Manila will be deported for being an undesirable alien. David said Bagley is the subject of an arrest warrant issued last November by a US district court in Washington due to his failure to update his registration as a sex offender. Bagley’s passport was revoked by the State Department after he failed to update his registration as a sex offender in the US. In the Philippines, Immigration records showed that he did not extend his tourist visa since he last arrived in the country on April 17 last year. Meanwhile, Atty. Ma. Antonette Mangrobang, BI acting intelligence chief, Bagley’s offense stemmed from his failure to update his registration as a sex offender Mangrobang explained that the registration is a system in the US designed to enable authorities to keep track of the residence and activities of sex offenders. All 50 US states have reportedly passed laws requiring sex offenders, especially child sex offenders, to periodically report their residence upon leaving prison or after being convicted of their crime. Various websites on sex offenders revealed that on Oct. 29, 2004 a Seattle court sentenced Bagley to 51 months custody, including Read More …

Online plan to boost Philippine eagle numbers

Entertainment

Mar 032013

Online plan to boost Philippine eagle numbers

(Philippine Eagle Foundation Logo) MANILA, Feb 28 (Mabuhay) -– The mating rituals of two captive Philippine eagles are being broadcast live over the Internet to rally global support for saving of the world’s rarest and biggest raptors, conservationists said Thursday. Livestreaming the pair gives a global Internet audience a rare insight into the courtship, mating and chick-rearing habits of the birds, which could soon become extinct, said Philippine Eagle Foundation spokesman Rolando Pinsoy. “This will give everyone a chance to learn more about this species and understand why we have to save them,” Pinsoy said. Customarily, the female lays a single egg in November or December and the chick hatches a month later, he said. In a project backed by the US-based Raptor Resource Project and the Internet videosharing site Ustream.tv, the pair can now be viewed 24 hours a day over the next 12 months at http://www.ustream.tv/recorded/29615691 “Even for biologists, there is so much more that we need to learn about this species,” Pinsoy said. The Philippine eagle, or Pithecophaga jefferyi, is the world’s largest eagle in terms of length. It is found only in the country’s vanishing forests, where hunting, logging and land conversion all threaten its survival. The bird, with a distinctive shaggy and cream-colored crest, grows to up to 3.35 feet (one meter) in length with a wing span of up to seven feet. According to the foundation and the International Union for the Conservation of Nature, there are only about between 180 to 500 pairs Read More …

Tax evasion raps filed vs trading firm, model agency

Entertainment

Mar 032013

Tax evasion raps filed vs trading firm, model agency

(Bureau of Internal Revenue Logo) MANILA, Feb 28 (Mabuhay) — The Bureau of Internal Revenue (BIR) charged a Laguna-based trading company with willful failure to pay due taxes amounting to P4.49 million. Charged before the Dept. of Justice (DOJ) was Jera Marketing, Inc. (JMI) and its president, Ester R. Almendrala, for alleged violations of Sec. 255 in relation to Sec. 253 of the National Internal Revenue Code. BIR Commissioner Kim Henares bared that JMI was issued a Letter of Authority (LOA) for the examination of its books of accounts and other accounting records for taxable year 2006. However, JMI reportedly failed to submit these documents. The BIR then issued a subpoena duces tecum, Preliminary Assessment Notice, and a Formal Letter of Demand pointing out the firm’s tax liabilities but, again, JMI allegedly failed to settle the same. The case against JMI is the 152nd filed by the bureau under its Run After Tax Evaders (RATE) program under the Aquino administration. Meanwhile, a separate complaint was filed by the BIR against the owner of a casting firm for a total tax liability amounting to P6.61 million. Angelica Bonnevie Mara was charged for “willful failure to evade or defeat tax and for deliberate failure to supply correct and accurate information in her income tax return (ITR) for taxable year 2009.” Mara owns Model Shop Casting Studio with business address in Makati City. BIR Commissioner Kim Henares said a preliminary investigation was conducted on Mara’s alleged tax evasion scheme. In the course of Read More …

Council passes Garcetti immigration legislation

Entertainment

Mar 032013

Council passes Garcetti immigration legislation

Garcetti legislation to hel p immigrants become residents and citizens Los Angeles City Council member Eric Garcetti LOS ANGELES – The Los Angeles City Council approved legislation introduced by Councilmember Eric Garcetti to move Los Angeles immigrant residents to the front of the line when it comes to citizenship and fully participating in L.A. civic life, which would benefit the entire city and our economy. The legislative package, authored by Garcetti, reestablishes the city’s Office of Immigrant Affairs and creates the nation’s first local initiative to help immigrants through the legal process of becoming a resident and citizen as proposed by President Obama’s federal immigration reform effort. “Immigration reform is coming, but any federal program can be daunting to navigate, particularly for immigrants,” Garceti said. “This office will help L.A. immigrants cut through the red tape so they are at the front of the line when it comes to President Obama’s new pathway to citizenship. Helping deserving immigrants earn legal status will build stronger L.A. communities and a stronger L.A. economy.” In addition to offering services to immigrants to help their residency and citizenship requirements, the legislative package aim is to help immigrants learn about city services – for example preventative care so that immigrant Angelenos get help they need and taxpayers don’t incur higher costs driven by emergency room visits.

FVR: Time to let more foreign investors in by Charter change

Entertainment

Mar 032013

FVR: Time to let more foreign investors in by Charter change

Former President Fidel V. Ramos during the 27th Anniversary of the EDSA People Power Revolution at the People Power Monument in White Plains corner Epifanio de los Santos Avenue (EDSA) on Monday (February 25). This year’s theme is “Pilipinas Natin, Abot Tanaw Na!”. The 1986 peaceful and bloodless uprising ousted the dictatorship and catapulted the late Corazon C. Aquino to the Presidency. (MNS photo) MANILA, Feb 26 (Mabuhay) — Former President Fidel V. Ramos on Tuesday called for a constitutional change that will open the country to more foreign investments. “Historically, Filipinos have opposed constitutional change. But, my dear friends, we have to amend the 1987 Philippine Constitution to be more in sync with the development we’re trying to achieve,” Ramos said as he received a lifetime achievement award at The Joint Foreign Chambers’ of the Philippines Arangkada Forum: Realize the Potential! He noted the need to review the 1987 Constitution which limits foreign equity ownership on land utilities, telecommunications, among others to 40 percent. The charter was drafted during the term of then-President Corazon C. Aquino, mother of President Benigno S. Aquino III. In September 2011, Congressional leaders batted for a bicameral constituent assembly in reviewing the Constitution and for the Senate and the House of Representatives to vote on it separately. Discussions, however, took a back seat, with the Cabinet review on the economic costs and gains to changes in the foreign ownership provision. Businessmen and economists have pointed out that the provision is a bottleneck to more Read More …

De Lima orders Immigration officers to be on lookout for 3 ‘rescued’ Chinese drug suspects

Entertainment

Mar 032013

De Lima orders Immigration officers to be on lookout for 3 ‘rescued’ Chinese drug suspects

President Benigno S. Aquino III asks Sultan Jamalul Kiram III of Sulu to withdraw his supporters in Sabah to end the standoff peacefully during the Press Briefing at the New Executive Building, Malacañan Palace on Tuesday (February 26). In photo is Justice Secretary Leila de Lima. (MNS photo) MANILA (Mabuhay) – Justice Secretary Leila de Lima on Monday directed Immigration officials to be on the lookout for the three Chinese drug suspects who were apparently rescued by armed men while on their way to a court hearing in Cavite last week. Still unaccounted for are Li Lan Yan alias Jackson Dy, his wife Wang Li na, and Li Tian Hua. All three were “rescued” by around 20 armed people in Trece Martires, Cavite on February 20. “[You are] directed to instruct all Immigration officers to be on the lookout/alert for the above-named individuals should any of them pass through immigration counters in any of our international airports and/or seaports, and to detain and turn them over to the proper authorities,” De Lima said in her lookout bulletin order. At the same time, De Lima instructed Immigration officials to coordinate with police in gathering additional information on the drug suspects, including their full names, aliases, dates of birth, places of birth, copies of their passports or any travel documents, and their latest known pictures. The Justice chief said Immigration officers should also coordinate with other offices and agencies, including airlines, to immediately detect if the Chinese nationals are trying to leave the Read More …

US auto sales power ahead in February

Economy

Mar 032013

DETROIT (AP) — Americans want new cars and trucks, and they’re not letting higher gas prices or political dysfunction stand in their way. New car and truck sales were up four percent in February as rising home construction and cheap financing kept the US auto recovery on track. While the pace of growth is slowing, industry analysts expect more gains in the coming months, saying there’s little that could derail demand for new cars. Car buyers have already shrugged off higher Social Security taxes, which cut their take-home pay starting in January. Gas prices — which rose 36 cents to $3.78 per gallon in February — didn’t change their habits, either. And they ignored the debate over automatic spending cuts that were due to take effect Friday. “Quite frankly, we think most of America is getting a little tired of hearing about some of the dysfunction,” said Kurt McNeil, General Motors Co.’s US sales chief. “We think the fundamentals are strong and that’s what’s important, and that’s what’s driving the economy.” February sales hit an annualized rate of 15.4 million cars and trucks. That’s still short of the recent peak of close to 17 million in 2005, but it’s quite healthy compared with the anemic 10.4 million recorded during the recession in 2009. The industry isn’t likely to see the double-digit monthly gains it saw last year, when Japanese automakers came roaring back after the 2011 earthquake in Japan. Instead, auto companies are settling in for a period of slower Read More …

Coca-Cola closes Laguna plant but remains committed to Phl investments

Economy

Mar 032013

Coca-Cola closes Laguna plant but remains committed to Phl investments

MANILA, Philippines – Beverage giant The Coca-Cola Co. has decided to close its plant in Calamba, Laguna to streamline its regional operations. The company, however, said it remains committed to investing in the Philippines for the next 100 years. Bessie Arciga, corporate communications and brand public relations manager of The Coca-Cola Export Corp., said in an email that the decision to close the Canlubang concentrate plant will affect 57 direct employees. “In order to streamline operations, The Coca-Cola Co. continuously reviews its concentrate supply chain to drive greater efficiency and position itself to meet future growth in Asia. As a result of that review, the company has decided to produce all concentrate and beverage base for the Philippines in Singapore, and to close the Philippines concentrate plant,” she said. “This decision will allow us to be more efficient and to increase flexibility in the Asia supply chain,” she said further. The plant closure is expected to be completed within the year. To mitigate the effect of the plant closure, the firm is reassigning employees in Canlubang to its other plants or facilities in the country and in Singapore. Business ( Article MRec ), pagematch: 1, sectionmatch: 1 The company will likewise be giving a competitive severance package to its employees. But while the firm has decided to halt operations at its plant in Canlubang, it intends to pursue investments in the country. “Although we have closed our plant, the company remains committed to investing in the Philippine economy not only Read More …

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